A ceremony to mark the unloading of the first cargo of 2016 took place at Da Nang’s Tien Sa Port at 8.30am on 1 January.  During the ceremony, 700 TEUs were unloaded from the Singaporean vessel Mia Schulte which had docked at the port over the New Year period.

In 2015, the port handled 6.4 million tons of cargo, including 258,000 TEUs, a rise of 6.5% against 2014.  As a result, it earned 525 billion VND in revenue which is the highest ever recorded by the port, and its tax contributions to the city’s budget climbed 11% against last year. 

In addition, the port welcomed 52,000 international passengers from 58 cruise ship arrivals. 

The first cargo of 2016 being unloaded

As for this year, the Port is aiming to handle a total of 6.7 million tons of cargo and receive 140,000 foreign visitors from 90 international cruise ship arrivals.  Also, work is expected to start on the 2^nd phase of the Tien Sa Port expansion project this year.  This will create a momentum for making Da Nang Port the largest container port in the central region.

Last Friday, the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a ceremony to welcome the first 180 international air passengers to set foot in the city on New Year's Day.  They arrived at 9.40am on a direct Silk Air-operated flight from Singapore.

A representative from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism presenting flowers to an international air passenger

The welcome ceremony was one of a series of activities to build Da Nang into a friendly and hospitable city as well as advertise the city’s beautiful tourism images to international visitors. 

During their stay in the city, the Singaporean passengers will visit some of the local popular tourist attractions, including the Ba Na Hills Resort, the Marble Mountains, the Museum of Cham Sculpture, and the Son Tra Peninsular.  In addition, they will go shopping at the Han Market and the BigC mall.